Omicron Covid-19 India Latest Update: Devotees gather to take a holy dip in the waters of Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers during Magh Mela festival in Prayagraj on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters)Coronavirus Omicron India LIVE News: The Election Commission (EC) Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows for the upcoming assembly elections across five states to January 22 but granted relaxation to parties to conduct indoor meetings with maximum 300 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall.
West Bengal government too extended the Covid-19 restrictions in state till January 31 while allowing fairs on open grounds in very restricted manner with adherence to safety norms. It also raised the minimum number of attendees in a marriage function from 50 to 200 or 50 per cent of the capacity of the event venue.
Kerala on Saturday confirmed 48 new Omicron cases, pushing the total infected in the state with the new variant of Covid-19 to 528, the health department said. State health minister Veena George said 33, out of the 48 cases, came from low-risk countries while two were from high-risk nations. While nine got the disease from their contacts, four people are from other states.
India reported 2,68,833 lakh fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, ending at 8 am on Saturday. The country reported 402 fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 4,85,752, the Union Health Ministry said. The positivity rate also increased from 14.7% to 16.66%. As many as 1,22,684 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, leaving the number of active cases at 14,17,820. The confirmed cases of Omicron now stand at 6,041.
Mumbai on Friday recorded 11,317 Covid-19 cases as its positivity rate dipped to 20 per cent from 21.73 per cent a day before. The city, on Friday, conducted 54,924 coronavirus tests. Maharashtra, meanwhile, witnessed 43,211 cases and 19 related deaths. Delhi, on the other hand, reported 24,383 new Covid-19 infections on Friday, with the number dropping by over 4,000 in comparison to the previous day’s tally of over 28,800 cases.
Meanwhile, as India grapples with the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government is gearing up to convene the Budget Session of Parliament this month-end with strict social distancing and other protocols in place. Meanwhile, sources within the defence establishment said that close to 24,000 people will attend the Republic-Day parade following Covid-19 protocols. In other news, Cannabis compounds prevented the virus that causes Covid-19 from penetrating healthy human cells, according to a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products.
Covid testing on roadside during the weekend curfew in view of rising cases in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Mumbai recorded a further dip in the number of daily Covid-19 cases on Saturday, recording 10,661 cases as against the 11,317 infections it registered on Friday. The number of deaths, however, went up from nine on Friday to 11 on Saturday.
At present, the total active cases in Mumbai stand at 73,518 while the number of patients discharged on Saturday was 21,474. With this, the current recovery rate is 91% and the doubling rate 43 days. Read more
The Arignar Anna Zoological Park here, popularly known as the 'Vandalur zoo', would be closed to the public till January 31, a senior official said here on Saturday. To avoid rapid spread of Covid, the zoological park would be closed to public from January 17 to 31, an official release said. The AAZP is located in the southern suburb of Vandalur and it is among the key attractions of the metropolis. --PTI
Amid the scare caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, a senior official of the Maharashtra health department has said that the Delta strain of the virus still accounts for the maximum number of infection cases in the state as revealed by the genome sequencing of the patients' samples. Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary of the health department, in a letter written to his colleagues on Wednesday said that the Delta variant was found in 68 per cent samples, out of the over 4,200 analysed, while the remaining 32 per cent patients were found infected with the Omicron strain. --PTI
Chandigarh reports 1,795 new cases today; Active cases at 8,511. Positivity rate at 26.71%
The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday announced it has extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows for the upcoming assembly elections across five states to January 22 but granted relaxation to parties to conduct indoor meetings with maximum 300 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall.
“No road show, padyatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally and procession shall be allowed till 22 January, 2022. The Commission shall subsequently review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly. No physical rally of political parties or candidates (including probables) or any other group related to election shall be allowed till 22 January, 2022,” the EC said in a statement. Read more
The Election Commission on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies till January 22. The EC had earlier banned physical election rallies and roadshows till January 15 to arrest spread of Covid-19 triggered by its Omicron variant.
Mizoram reports 477 new cases today; Active case tally at 8,048.
Bengal extends Covid-19 restrictions till Jan 31
Some of the modifications/additions to the order are:
# The govt has allowed fairs on open grounds in very restricted manner with adherence to safety norms
# It has allowed marriage functions with maximum of 200 attendees or 50 pc of venue's capacity
Kerala confirmed 48 new Omicron cases on Saturday, taking the total infected in the state with the new variant of COVID-19 to 528, the health department said. State health minister Veena George said out of the 48 cases, 33 came from low-risk countries while two were from high-risk nations. While nine contracted the disease from their contacts, four people are from other states. Out of those who were found infected with the new variant, 12 people are in Kozhikode district, 9 in Ernakulam, 7 in Thrissur, 6 in Thiruvananthapuram, 4 in Kottayam and 2 in Malappuram. Kollam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Palakkad and Wayanad districts have one case each, the health department said in a release. --PTI
Taking into consideration the Covid-19 situation, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) on Saturday decided to postpone civic body polls to February 12.
The municipal elections in Asansol, Bidhannagar, Siliguri and Chandannagar, which were slated to be held on January 22, have been postponed to February 12, the WBSEC stated in a notification after its meeting with the state government.
The move comes after the Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the WBSEC to explore the possibility of deferring the polls by four to six weeks in view of a high number of Covid cases. State government sources said on Saturday that they had also requested WBSEC to defer the polls in view of the Covid-19 crisis. Read more
US health officials on Friday encouraged more Americans to wear the kind of N95 or KN95 masks used by health-care workers to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those kinds of masks are considered better at filtering the air. But they were in short supply previously, and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention officials had said they should be prioritised for health care workers.
In updated guidance posted late Friday afternoon, CDC officials removed concerns related to supply shortages and more clearly said that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection. However, agency officials noted some masks are harder to tolerate than others, and urged people to choose good-fitting masks that they will wear consistently.
"Our main message continues to be that any mask is better than no mask," Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokeswoman, said in a statement. The CDC has evolved its mask guidance throughout the pandemic. In its last update, in September, CDC officials became more encouraging of disposable N95 masks, saying they could be used in certain situations if supplies were available. Examples included being near a lot of people for extended periods of time on a train, bus or airplane; taking care of someone in poor health; or being more susceptible to severe illness. (AP)
The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 8,538 as 73 more people tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours, a health department official said on Saturday. Twenty-seven new patients have travel history, while 46 infections were detected during contact tracing, he said. The Union Territory had on Thursday reported 68 fresh cases.
Sixty-three more people recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 7,938. The death toll remained at 129 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported during the period. The Union Territory now has 471 active cases.
Altogether 6,00,335 people have been inoculated till January 13, with 2,97,245 of them having received both doses of vaccines. At least 17,342 beneficiaries in the age group 15-18 years have been given the first dose of Covid vaccine. (PTI)
Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday said there was no considerable spread of COVID-19 among students in the state and the government's decision to put on hold the offline classes for students of grade 1 to 9 for two weeks was a precautionary step as the viral infection saw a surge in recent days.
The classes would be suspended for two weeks as a precaution and it was applicable to all educational institutions in the southern state, he told a press conference. Noting that the safety of children was of paramount importance to the government, he said the timetable of the online classes would be restructured as per the new decision.
However, there would be no change in the offline classes of 10th, 11th and 12th standards and special arrangements would be made for those children coming to schools, he said. 'With this, over 35 lakh students will be staying at home and attend online classes during the period. A high-level meeting of the education Department will convene on Monday and the revised guideline will be issued after that,' Sivankutty said. (PTI)
Odisha's Covid-19 caseload mounted to 11,22,735 on Saturday with 10,856 fresh infections, while two more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,478, the Health Department said in a bulletin. The daily test positivity rate jumped to 14.49 per cent from 13.57 per cent the previous day, when 10,273 cases were reported, it said.
Khurda district, where state capital Bhubaneswar is located, reported over a quarter of the new cases at 3,087, followed by 1,943 in Sundargarh, 909 in Cuttack and 500 in Sambalpur. Odisha now has 61,809 active cases, while 10,52,395 patients have recovered from the disease so far, including 2,216 since Friday, the bulletin said. (PTI)
The Covid-19 pandemic continued to take a toll on the Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton tournament with two players being withdrawn from the main draw ahead of their mixed doubles semifinal clash in New Delhi on Saturday.
Second seeded Russian mixed doubles player Rodion Alimov tested positive for the virus and was withdrawn from the $400,000 tournament. His mixed doubles partner Alina Davletova was also withdrawn after being identified as a close contact. Indonesian pair of Yong Kai Terry Hee and Wei Han Tan thus made it to the mixed doubles final after getting a walkover.
A total of 6,041 Omicron cases has been detected so far, an increase of 5.01 per cent since Friday, the data updated at 8 am showed. The daily positivity rate was 16.66 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 12.84 per cent. Active cases in the country have gone up to 14,17,820, the highest in about 223 days, and comprise 3.85 per cent of the total infections. The national recovery rate stands at 94.83 per cent, the Health Ministry added.
The West Bengal government is likely to cancel a rally to mark legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary on January 23 as well as curtail the Repuplic Day programme on Red Road here, owing to the surge in COVID-19 cases, a state secretariat source said on Saturday. Discussions regarding the possible measures were held during a meeting of senior officials, including Chief secretary H K Dwivedi and Home Secretary B P Gopalika late on Friday, he said.
"The situation is not favourable for celebrating Netaji's birthday and Republic Day in a grand manner, as Covid infections are on the rise again and large gatherings cannot be allowed. The rally on January 23 that was scheduled to be held from Red Road to Shyambazar is likely to be cancelled. The Republic Day programme could also be limited to only 30 minutes," the source said. (PTI)
Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday recorded 89 new COVID-19 cases, 39 less than the previous day, with the caseload mounting to 56,227, a health department official said. Of the fresh cases, 26 were reported from the Capital Complex Region, 24 from West Kameng district, 13 from Changlang, seven from Papum Pare and six from Lohit, he said.
Five new infections were also registered in Lower Subansiri district, three in Lower Siang and one each in Lower Dibang Valley, Namsai, Tawang, Tirap and West Siang. The death toll remained at 282 as no fresh fatality due to the disease was reported in the past 24 hours, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said. (PTI)
In view of the rising cases of Covid-19 in Madhya Pradesh, the state government has banned visitors from meeting prison inmates till the end of March this year in an attempt to prevent the spread of infection. An order to this effect was an issued by the state jail department on Friday.
"In a bid to prevent the spread of the pandemic inside the prisons, the visits of friends, family members and acquaintances of jail inmates will remain banned till March 31. The jail inmates will continue to avail the facility of e-meeting (through video calls) and incoming phone calls," the order read.
From November 1 last year, visitors were allowed to meet the inmates of jails in the state after a decline in coronavirus cases. In March 2021, after the announcement of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the jail department had banned prison visits till October end last year. (PTI)
Ladakh's coronavirus caseload increased to 23,079 on Saturday as 106 more people tested positive for the virus, officials said. Eighty-six of the new cases were reported from Leh district and 20 from Kargil district, they said. According to the officials, the Covid-19 death toll in the Union territory stands at 222 -- 164 fatalities in Leh and 58 in Kargil.
The number of active Covid-19 cases in Ladakh has gone up to 669; 603 in Leh and 66 in Kargil, the officials said. Thirty-five patients were discharged from hospitals in Leh during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in Ladakh to 21,188, they said. The officials said the total positivity rate of Ladakh stands at 3.8 per cent. (PTI)